The LEAP Landscaping Workshop provides a strategic overview of the visions, interests and organizations shaping biotechnology.

The goals of the Landscaping Workshop are to:

provide an overview of the field that highlights different visions and interests in the field, offering exposure to major themes that may shape Fellows’ action plans and career decisions;

illuminate key gaps in the field and explore opportunities for individual and collective impact;

build a sense of community among Fellows, and among Fellows and mentors.

The 2015 Landscaping Workshop was held at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in in Washington, DC. Over four days, Fellows received briefings and participated in roundtable discussions and facilitated activities with key officials from government, non-governmental organizations, academia and industry. These officials included representatives from major US government funding and regulatory agencies for synthetic biology research and products, and a delegation from the UK, the international partner for the 2015 program. The meeting concluded with a congressional visit.

Prior to the meeting, Fellows drafted a first version of their Strategic Action Plan. These plans articulated one or more key challenges and/or opportunities for advancing synthetic biology in the public interest that the Fellows are personally motivated to pursue. Following the Landscaping Workshop, Fellows published Insight Papers reflecting on their experiences and conveying key lessons.

The workshops were invaluable to me in regards to seeing how my interests and skills fit into the broader community. I was fluctuating on my plans before the program, and the workshops really helped me revise the vision.